Upgrading to Lifepo4 in your RV? How to upgrade your charger / converter and battery.
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- Опубліковано 3 лип 2024
- #rv #brianwatersoutdoors #rvlife #litime
Some links below are Amazon affiliate links for what I upgraded with in the video. Affiliate links can provide a commission if used to buy, but at no cost to you.
LiTime 230ah 12.8v battery
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55 amp 14.6v charge controller
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Camcorder double battery box
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Thank you for this. We upgraded to 2 100 amp lithium and our inverter trips every time my wife makes coffee. I just checked the converter on our ‘22 Vibe and it’s a lead acid one. Of course, it’s non switchable. We’ll be changing that out soon. Thanks again. Nice job.
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Fantastic idea 💡 thanks for sharing 😊 I hope the trip went well too 😊
Thanks Clarence👍🏻
Awesome video! I’m looking for a good battery and with this videos it makes it easy what one to pick. Thanks 🍻
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I feel your excitement! HA, good job.
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Nice rig mod and excellent choices for the battery and the battery box. I put my Renogy 200ah LFP battery in a NOCO HM484 marine battery box, and that's a nice combo, too. (edited NOCO model number).
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That's a nice looking, slim battery. I replaced a Progressive Dynamics lead acid converter/charger with a Progressive Dynamics 80a lithium compatible converter/charger when I upgraded from a pair of lead acid golf cart batteries to a 560ah LiFePo-4 battery. If you ever use a generator for charging, the higher amp charger will shorten your generator run time. Most LiFePo-4 batteries allow up to a 0.5C (1/2 the battery's rated capacity) charge rate, but for maximum life, 0.2C is ideal. For example, for my 560ah battery, 112 amps is 0.2C and 280 amps is 0.5C. For reference, my 80a charger will recharge my battery from half capacity to fully charged in 3.5 hours if my 620w solar system would fail, for whatever reason.
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Brian, I have looked for a battery that size for two years. Found that box, but every lifepo⁴ battery was too big, so I rerouted my cables to the bedroom. I may get your battery and undo what I did. Thanks man.
I looked forever too, nothing worked! Glad LiTime realized the need for this size/capacity👍🏻
As a long time RVer, I always you should 2 year old used units. This way all the problems have been fixed by the previous owner. The RV industry uses the customer as their quality control. Even high end units like Airstreams are not free of issues ( we have owned two).
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Too true.
A couple of simple upgrades that are going to greatly improve your camping experience. Enjoy the time with your family on your spring break trip
Thanks bud👍🏻👍🏻
Nice upgrade! I just bought an old travel trailer today as a project and need to put a whole electrical system in. Did you have a video somewhere that shows how to setup the inverter, solar controller, shore power, charge converter etc?
I don’t at this time Eric
Great video and congratulations on your upgrades but I very much hope for you that you have better luck with that battery than I did.
Mine wouldn't allow charging beyond 14.1 volts. This would cause the BMS to reset. I replaced the solar charge controller (twice), converter/charger and all of the lugs/connectors in the circuit. No luck. Everything was finally resolved when I replaced the Li Time with another battery from another manufacturer (Canbat).
Good luck Sir!
That’s unfortunate to hear about your battery. Did you ever contact LiTime and claim the warranty?
Yes, I contacted Ampere Time immediately after installation. They were under that name at the time of purchase. We spent months working through the issue together but in the end I received 90% of the purchase price, due to the fact that the battery was older than six months at that point. They have rebranded as Li Time now.
I wasn't the only person with this issue and wished that I had done more research before spending that much. Their standard lifepo4 batteries are fairly reliable but the self-heating models have a cloudy history. I believe that they are selling some of those warranty returns as "refurbished" options. Hopefully they've sorted the BMS issue by now.
By the way, I've been enjoying your videos. I have a Geo Pro trailer and relocated the 200ah battery to the pass-thru so that freezing won't be an issue up here in the North. My TV is an F150 Tremor.
Safe travels to you!@@BrianWatersOutdoors
You can use a victron or amped shunt of you want to add Bluetooth capabilities
True, that’s an easy solution if you do t have built in Bluetooth👍🏻
Great video. Any chance you’ll be doing a review on the LiTime 3000 Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter/Charger?
Maybe. I have not seen that yet. I’ll look into it
It amazes me how the RV industry can sell these things for so much when they are built so cheap. Not knocking you and yours Brian, just RVs in general. I understand the draw, maybe the need, just cannot get around the cheap quality. Drives me nuts.
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Yeah, I imported a motor home from Japan after being disgusted by North American junk. Our Japanese rig is awesome quality and came mated to a 4WD Toyota diesel truck.
My wife and I bought a 32' 5th-wheel trailer last summer. It's a 2006, but in fantastic condition. I don't have any immediate plans to boondock with it, but I'm sure we will eventually want to swap out the chargeverter and lead-acid batteries to an LFP battery and suitable charger. I had no idea it was located behind the fuse panel. Not very convenient, but at least now I know! Does that 230ah battery have pouch cells in it? That's very compact for as much capacity as it has. The space where my battery goes (in an enclosed compartment) could fit something a lot larger. It currently has two, group 27, 100ah lead-acid batteries.
Hey Jason, these actually have EV prismatic cells👍🏻
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what voltage does you truck charge at when towing your unit?
I don’t even have an RV and I want to buy that battery. Lol.
lol👍🏻👍🏻
I have an older RV and would like to upgrade from two lead acid batteries. Would this type of upgrade still use the same 30amp shore power plug that it uses now?
Yes, would still use same plug 👍🏻
Was there any other upgrades needed to the electrical system? I saw another video that added a charge controller too.
No. The charge controllers are for solar panels that I do t have on this rig
Hi Brian, I’m looking at adding this same setup to my travel trailer. The LiTime website recommends 45amp charge rate for the 230ah battery. Do you think it’s better to go with the Powermax 45amp charger?
I think either would do just fine. You could use a 20amp charger if you wanted to.
Hey Brian, did you ever do a video on how you have so much electrical knowledge? And how your wife lets you buy all these toys...lol
lol, that video has never been made😂
Does that inverter stop charging when the battery is full?
Yes, actually it will go into a “float” mode and act like a trickle charger
Most 7 pin connectors have a dedicated pin that connects the 12v positive from the tow vehicle to the 12v positive from the RV. Since this is now 14.x volts is the tow vehicle going to get fried?
No. This is only when connected to shore power
Just don't press your tongue 👅 against the terminals.
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what you going to do with the old one?
I’ll find a use for it somewhere around the house👍🏻